I love making handmade pasta noodles at home! We had some gorgeous mushrooms (Blue Oyster & Chestnut) from Mindful Mushrooms that we got from our friend and farmer, Ivo that were begging to be eaten with pasta! I had also recently bought some bone marrow from Da Le Ranch and wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but then it dawned on me. I wanted to recreate the amazing bone marrow pasta dish at BIGA, but put my own little twist on it. We also had some amazing spicy micro greens from Lath House Gardens that were the perfect garnish to finish off the dish!
I purchased some bulk California grown Patwin Whole Wheat flour from Community Grains. Community Grains is a California based company that is committed to transparency through California’s grain industry. They promise to educate consumers from seed to table while celebrating California’s farmers. This particular grain was grown by Farmer Fritz Durst in Capay, CA. Its definitely heartier when working with it, especially for pasta, but I wanted to give it a whirl and see how it turned out… so… here it goes! If you don’t want to make your own pasta at home, skip towards the middle and we can pick up from there.
Mangia Bene!
Ingredients / Equipment:
Pasta Dough (to make 1 lb):
2 TBSP hot water
1 1/4 cups whole-grain wheat flour
1/2 cup semolina flour
3 eggs
Large Bowl
KitchenAid pasta attachment (preferably)
Or you can purchase from Assenti Pasta. (1Lb will be great!)
Pasta Sauce
2 TBSP butter (or Olive Oil)
3/4 lb mushrooms (we used Blue Oyster & Chestnut)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt & pepper to taste
3 QT sauce pan
Bone Marrow (optional):
1 lb bone marrow, halved
Olive Oil
Balsamic Glaze
Small sheet pan
For Serving:
Micro Greens (or fresh basil)
Grated Romano Cheese
Instructions:
Pasta Dough:
In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour and semolina flour. Push the flour mixture along the sides of the bowl to form a well for the eggs. Add the eggs and water to the well. Using your fingertips, gradually push the flour into the eggs and water and mix until it starts to form a dough. When its nearly combined, transfer the mixture to a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough using the heel of your hand, rotating and repeat for 10 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for one hour.
Roll out the pasta dough. Using a bench scrapper, divide the dough in two. Keep half the dough covered with a damp towel while rolling out the remaining half through a pasta machine to about 1/8 inch thick. Push the sheets through a chitarra attachment.
Note: you can also hand roll and cut the pasta if you don’t have a pasta roller / attachment.
Pasta Sauce:
Preheat your oven to 350 (for bone marrow).
Put a large pot of water on the stove and let it reach boiling. Generously salt your water!
Carefully score larger mushrooms if necessary. This will help tenderize them and soak up all of the flavors of your sauce. On medium heat, add your butter to the pan. Once butter has melted, add in your mushrooms and saute until tender. About half way through, add your garlic and season with salt and pepper to taste. You can really add the garlic in at any time but we like to add it about half way through so you get more of a fresh and aromatic garlic flavor. Add some pasta water once your noodles are done cooking.
Noodles should take about 7 minutes in boiling water. I like to add some olive oil to the water before I put the pasta in to help it from sticking together.
Once noodles are done, you can toss them right into your mushroom sauce or keep them separate. If you choose to keep them separate, toss them in olive oil to prevent them from sticking.
Bone Marrow:
Carefully rub some olive oil on the meat side of your bone marrow. Place it on a foil lined baking sheet. Place it on your middle rack and bake it for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your bones. Once almost done, take it out of the oven, switch your oven to broil and broil your bone marrow for 3 minutes. This will help get the top layer nice and caramelized. Once done, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a some balsamic glaze.
Note: you can also make this meal vegetarian by omitting the bone marrow.
To serve:
Gently place your pasta at the bottom of your plate. Spoon some extra mushrooms on top and top with some grated Romano cheese. Next, layer your beautiful bone marrow and top the whole plate off with some micro greens or fresh herbs!
Enjoy!
Pasta dough recipe is from Chef Jonah Rhodehamel from Tasting Table.
